Sure, it gave voice to a generation and helped shape the world just when the world most needed changing. And as Abhaya Subba Weise states, “Rock is about passion, anger, a lust for life, an expression of various freedoms, a channel to express everything from sexuality to politics.”[break]
The revolution might be over, but the evolution continues, and paying tribute to the hotshots of classic rock is the annual “Golden Moments – Tribute to Rock.” The fourth episode of the concert will see Abhaya and the Steam Injuns take to the stage on Friday, June 17 at Attic Bar, Lainchour.
One of the few, if not rare, female-fronted rock outfit, the rockstress shares with Republica her love for this particular genre, the acts that got her roaring, and reveals the hurdles faced by a female singer in a patriarchal society – no feminist agenda intended, though.
If aliens asked you what rock is?
We’ll get them to hear us play live and loud. It would be entirely up to them as to how they interpret. No amount of words would explain any genre of music. You need to feel it when you hear it!
What attracted you to this particular genre?
I guess, rock music suits my personality. Ever since I held a guitarand strummed those chords and started letting go, my soul has been responding to this music. It’s noisy, it’s loud – it wakes you, it breaks you, it takes you, and then reconstructs you; there are moments of death and moments of birth. If you can live several lifetimes in each song, why the hell wouldn’t anyone be attracted to this genre?
Acts that have had impact on you!
Janis Joplin, for sure! Her rawness and her brazen way of singing are revolutionary! She is what she is when she sings. Her exact choice of skills when she sings a song is astonishing, not a single extra trill or vibrato does she use if the song does not require it. Her honesty is so bare that there’s no one who can’t be impacted by her singing.
Your opinions on Nepali Rock scene?
It’s vibrant. Unfortunately, a lot of bands in Nepal break up because the economy of this country doesn’t really support such an offbeat job. So I’m happy when DMI organizes Golden Moments, a Tribute to Rock concerts every once in a while. At least, we can buy ‘em strings and maybe we can repair our amps. Seriously, the only bands that can exist for long periods of time are bands that have enough financial resources. Hoping that we can eventually overcome these money-related issues, but as we all know, hope is not a plan.
Our country is a really bad paymaster for musicians in general. If we release an album – 80% of listeners actually expect us to distribute the CDs for free. It’s not PIRACY that kills our music scene – it’s these freeloaders who make us feel completely defeated every time they ask us for a free CD.
You stand alone and proud amongst the male-dominated rock scene . Why is there a void in female-fronted rock ensembles?
In a patriarchal society like ours, women have been taught to please men ever since they are toddlers. It’s very difficult to find women who can speak their minds – let alone lay their souls bare to the public. Maybe things are changing and the mindset will be recast, but even now you’ll see a lot of Nepali girls, modern and intelligent, dismissing the feminist movement just to make sure those male egos feel secure. For those girls who think that women are no longer suppressed – here’s a reality check – there are hardly any female rockers in the Nepali music industry. If you look at statistics, we’ll probably have a 5% representation.
See, making music is about control. How you write, compose and produce songs is an act of creating a product. This has always been male territory. These are some of the reasons why the Steam Injuns keep having a change of lineup. A lot of older Nepali men just can’t respond to a woman having control over lyrics – notations and production. It’s unheard of. You notice a lot of female artists just waiting for somebody to write their songs, produce them and then hopefully guide them to present the songs the way the music director feels is the correct way. I have a satellite project in mind where I hope I’ll be able to guide young female artists to own their creativity and to have control on their beliefs.
One’s belief and vision are what separates the artist from just a singer or a musician.
There’s a void in female-fronted Rock ensembles because, sadly, in the present scenario, there are only five enlightened REAL men (The Steam Injuns) who don’t feel emasculated by a woman who can write songs and even arrange and produce them. I’m sure, though, that now with more progressive men around, this will be a very temporary situation.
You’ve just released the single, “Hami Sabai Nepali.” What’s next?
First, a music video for the song; and we’re mighty pleased to have Bhushan Dahal as the director. This song has kind of distracted our efforts from our upcoming album. But as soon as the video is done, we’ll be back knuckling down on our Trilogy. It’s our third album – so we have three sections to it. The album is tentatively named TRISOUL for now.
June 17, what can we expect?
A lot of Janis Joplin – Bobby McGee, Half Moon, Piece of My Heart etc. Rajiv, our guitarist, will be singing a Whitesnake number. We’ll skim on Led Zeppelin and dig into Scorpions.
So yeah, you can expect some classic rock numbers. Hope to see a lot of Rock lovers at Attic this Friday at 7pm.
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